Redmi Note 3G review – get ready for another crazy sale!

The Note 3G variant will go on sale on 2^nd December on Flipkart for Rs. 8,999. Here is the Xiaomi Redmi Note review (3G variant) that will help you make a better decision. It is octa core powered, sports a 5.5 inch HD screen and comes with 2GB RAM and 8GB internal storage.

Box Pack
The box pack is similar to as seen on the Xiaomi Redmi 1S and Xiaomi Mi3. Inside the box you will find the Redmi Note, 3100 mAh battery, travel charger, data cable, warranty info and user guide. Earphone is not included. The SAR values are mentioned on the box : 0.760 W/Kg (MAX).

Design and Display
The Redmi Note looks really good, it is a big handset and a bit heavy with a weight of 186 grams (with battery). Dimensions are 78.57mm x 153.81mm x 9.10mm.   It is plastic body, glossy black bezel and glossy white back panel. The black screen and black / white body combination gives a simple and elegant look. Handset is comfortable to hold, curvy edges, a little slipper and a bit heavy – but light on your pockets (price wise).

Power button / volume rockers are on the right side. 3.5mm audio jack is on the top and micro USB port at the bottom. There are dual mics for noise cancellation – one placed near the micro USB port at the bottom and other next to the 3.5mm audio jack on the top.

The speaker out vent is on the rear side, the back panel is not (almost) flat and placing the handset on a flat surface will not completely block the speaker vent. The three dedicated touch navigational buttons on the front bottom are red coloured as seen on the Redmi 1S, and they do light up.

The Note sports a 5.5 inch screen with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. It is an IPS screen with very good colour reproduction and viewing angles. Touch is smooth and responsive. The Redmi Note comes with corning gorilla glass 3 protection – though the same is not mentioned on the box but I did a scratch test and yes it is scratch resistant, you don’t really need a screen guard – check video review.

There is LED notification and you can also select the LED colour. Accelerometer, light, proximity, gyro and magnetic sensors are present.

This is a dual SIM handset with 2 normal SIM slots. SIM Slot 1 supports 3G and SIM Slot 2 supports 2G.

Memory, Storage and OS
The handset comes packed with 2GB RAM and 8GB storage. You get around 1.2GB free RAM on the first boot. Of the 8GB storage about 6GB is allocated as phone storage / for app and you get around 5GB free. Redmi Note is also using 1GB of Swap Memory.

Apps got installed on the internal storage, there is no option to move them to external storage. OTG is supported – I could connect an OTG pendrive and it worked.

The Note runs MiUi based on Android 4.2.2. There is no word about if and when the Note will be upgraded to Android 4.4.x.

Performance
This 3G variant Redmi Note houses a 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 cortex A7 octa core (8 cores) processor with Mali 450 MP GPU. It gives a lag free performance, occasionally you might experience mild lags specially when there is some background activity. The good part is that the handset really doesn’t heat up much.

Benchmark

Camera and Entertainment
Rear camera is 13MP and front camera is 5MP. Camera quality is very good in outdoor conditions. In room light / low light the quality is not that good. I guess the quality is same as seen on the Redmi 1S but on Note it is with a 13MP camera you get the same quality in higher resolution.

Rear camera can record slow motion videos and can shoot FHD videos at 30fps. Check the sample images and videos at the end.

This hardware can play FHD videos, I tried playing 4K video, it failed.

Gaming
I played Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 (MC5). Both games got installed on internal storage. Asphalt 8 was playable in high visual quality mode – you might notice a mild lag but the game is playable. No issues with MC5, graphics quality was very good, game response and controls very smooth.

Others
3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth worked without any issues. I got the first GPS lock instantly. Hindi language is supported and there is dirac audio option. You will find enable floating windows option when you select any app from settings -> app. I don’t know what that does, may be experimental, probably it is the same as seen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (size app window and move around the screen).

Sound is very loud and clear, in-call sound is also very good, clear. The screen is visible under direct sunlight. You can select a smaller keyboard and can easily type using single hand – you can also change the layout left or right as needed.

Battery
The Note comes with 3100 mAh battery. The battery performance is very good, you can expect 4 to 8 hours of continuous usage (moderate to high). The battery can be fully charged in about 3 hours.

Verdict
The dual SIM Redmi Note is another great VFM smartphone from Xiaomi. It looks good and is loaded with Octa Core processor that gives an overall excellent performance. The camera is decent and battery backup is really good. Add to it the price tag of Rs. 8,999.

The Note could be another WGOFSIS (Will Go Out Of Stock In Seconds) handset.  Ready for another crazy sale!

Redmi Note will be available on Flipkart for Rs. 8,999 – this is the 3G version.

[ Rating : 4.5 / 5 (decimals not supported in the review rating box below) ]

The Redmi Note Gallery

Sample Images shot using the Redmi Note handset